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intelligence

 - 5 dictionary results

in⋅tel⋅li⋅gence

  [in-tel-i-juhns]
Use intelligence in a Sentence
–noun
1. capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
2. manifestation of a high mental capacity: He writes with intelligence and wit.
3. the faculty of understanding.
4. knowledge of an event, circumstance, etc., received or imparted; news; information.
5. the gathering or distribution of information, esp. secret information.
6. Government.
a. information about an enemy or a potential enemy.
b. the evaluated conclusions drawn from such information.
c. an organization or agency engaged in gathering such information: military intelligence; naval intelligence.
7. interchange of information: They have been maintaining intelligence with foreign agents for years.
8. Christian Science. a fundamental attribute of God, or infinite Mind.
9. (often initial capital letter) an intelligent being or spirit, esp. an incorporeal one, as an angel.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L intelligentia. See intelligent, -ence

Synonyms:
1. See mind. 2. discernment, reason, acumen, aptitude, penetration.

Antonyms:
2. stupidity.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To intelligence
in·tel·li·gence   (ĭn-těl'ə-jəns)   
n.  

    1. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

    2. The faculty of thought and reason.

    3. Superior powers of mind. See Synonyms at mind.

    4. Secret information, especially about an actual or potential enemy.

    5. An agency, staff, or office employed in gathering such information.

    6. Espionage agents, organizations, and activities considered as a group: "Intelligence is nothing if not an institutionalized black market in perishable commodities" (John le Carré).

  2. An intelligent, incorporeal being, especially an angel.

  3. Information; news. See Synonyms at news.

    1. Secret information, especially about an actual or potential enemy.

    2. An agency, staff, or office employed in gathering such information.

    3. Espionage agents, organizations, and activities considered as a group: "Intelligence is nothing if not an institutionalized black market in perishable commodities" (John le Carré).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

intelligence 
1390, "faculty of understanding," from O.Fr. intelligence (12c.), from L. intelligentia "understanding," from intelligentem (nom. intelligens) "discerning," prp. of intelligere "to understand, comprehend," from inter- "between" + legere "choose, pick out, read" (see lecture). Meaning superior understanding, sagacity" is from c.1430. Sense of "information, news" first recorded c.1450, especially "secret information from spies" (1587). Intelligent is a 1509 back-formation; Intelligentsia "the intellectual class collectively" is 1907, from Rus. intelligyentsia, from Latin. Intelligence quotient first recorded 1922 (see I.Q.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·tel·li·gence
Pronunciation: in-'tel-&-j&n(t)s
Function: noun
1 a : the ability to learn or understand orto deal with new or trying situations b : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests)
2 : mental acuteness —in·tel·li·gent /in-'tel-&-j&nt/ adjective —in·tel·li·gent·ly adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

intelligence in·tel·li·gence (ĭn-těl'ə-jəns)
n.

  1. The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge, especially toward a purposeful goal.

  2. An individual's relative standing on two quantitative indices, namely measured intelligence, as expressed by an intelligence quotient, and effectiveness of adaptive behavior.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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